Purple is MY color in flowers! I was lost the first time I saw the photos of Harkness' Cardinal Hume, so much so, I imported it directly from the Harkness Nursery the first year it was available. What a rose! My only objection, IF I had one about it, is the plant size. Here in Southern California, it's a rather large, spreading shrub, which isn't a bad thing, just inconvenient for many newer gardens.

I was intrigued by what may be possible from Cardinal Hume's genes and began playing with it as soon as it bloomed. Purple Buttons was one of the first seedlings to germinate from the Cardinal's hips. Amazingly, it is precisely the same color, petal substance and wonderful "Red Hots" fragrance of the seed parent, only on a compact, polyantha-like plant. The fragrance has been described quite a few different ways. To me, it smells exactly the way the hot cinnamon candy, Red Hots, taste. There's really nothing else quite like it.

Purple Buttons can make a neat, short, dense fragrant hedge; grows well in a medium to large pot for deck, patio and balcony use; bedding, specimen or gift plant. It also makes a splendid patio standard. From experience, it is a rose which is happier in a warm, dry climate. Due to the intensely dark coloring of the flowers, it appreciates afternoon shade in hotter climates and situations.